Are you eager to read your doctor's notes about your visits, even those describing you as SOB? How about the one that reported your BS?

Primary-care patients at three large medical centers around the country, including Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, were overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the chance to see their doctor's notes about them, jargon and all.

Unlike their doctors, patients didn't seem worried they would be confused or angered by what their doctors had written about their mental health, substance abuse or obesity — even their being short of breath (SOB) or bowel sounds (BS).

"The enthusiasm of patients exceeded our expectations," wrote researchers, who published their report in the Annals of Internal Medicine last week.

The study detailed the responses of nearly 38,000 patients and 173 doctors surveyed just before the start of a one-year "OpenNotes" pilot project.

The pilot, launched last year at Harborview, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and Geisinger Health System in rural Pennsylvania, was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and other charitable organizations.

Ultimately, about 22,000 patients and 114 doctors signed up for the program, which closed earlier this year, with results to be released in the next few months.

Another surprising finding: Although researchers had predicted that enthusiasm would be highest among younger, more highly educated and tech-savvy patients, that turned out not to be the case.

"Most of them were overwhelmingly positive about the prospect of reading visit notes, regardless of demographic or health characteristics," the researchers wrote.

At Harborview, even homeless patients signed up for the pilot, using friends' computers or those at the public library or hospital, said Dr. Joann Elmore, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington who practices at Harborview and is one of the paper's authors.

Overall, between 93 and 97 percent of the patients who completed the survey said making visit notes available is a good idea. Most said it would help them understand their health and medical conditions, spur them to take their medications as prescribed, remember their care plan and help them feel more in control of their health care.

Only a small percentage said they thought the notes would be more confusing than helpful.

Linda Johnson, 63, a Harborview patient who signed up for the pilot, said she found the notes helpful in recalling what she and her doctors had talked about and how she was supposed to follow up.

"I have found, as I get older, I need more visits to the doctor, and there are more things we need to talk about," said Johnson, a former nonprofit-housing developer. "I find having them written down helps a lot."

Unlike patients, doctors were very divided.

In the pre-pilot survey reported in the journal, many doctors worried they would spend a lot of time editing or explaining their notes, and that patients could be confused or even angered by the notes.

The doctors who declined to participate in the pilot — none of them at Harborview — were much more pessimistic than those who decided to give it a try. More than 83 percent predicted they would spend a lot more time outside of visits addressing questions and many thought they would be less candid in what they wrote, especially about patients' mental health or substance abuse.

Elmore said doctors may have to change some of the ways they describe patients, particularly when it comes to subjective terms such as disheveled or obese.

"Historically, the medical note was not developed with the patient reading it," Elmore said, but was to help doctors recall treatments recommended, track things to watch out for and communicate with other doctors.

Doctors who did sign up for the pilot were more optimistic, expecting that open notes would improve patient safety, help patients prepare for visits and feel more in control of their health care.

About half of the patients who filled out surveys said they'd consider sharing their visit notes with others, although a third of them worried about privacy.

In the paper, the authors speculated about the potential consequences.

"Will sharing notes help patients engage families, friends and caregivers more fully and effectively?" they asked.

On the flip side, they wondered if sharing medical information might lead to more lawsuits and whether private information could end up on Facebook.

Some unanticipated consequences did emerge as the pilot rolled out, wrote study author Jan Walker, a registered nurse at Beth Israel. For example, some patients said they withheld information, knowing their doctors were writing it down.

Some who found errors in their record questioned their doctors' competency and the accuracy of other information.

At Harborview, doctors picked patients for the pilot carefully, excluding many with substance abuse or mental-health issues who they felt might be put at risk by reading notes.

Because OpenNotes stretches medical care in a new direction, "you have to make sure you're not causing harm," Elmore said. "I think we have much more to learn."

Carol M. Ostrom: 206-464-2249 or costrom@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @costrom.